When Hewitt was world No.1 a decade ago, he quickly became the player del Potro modelled himself on. All of the Australian's trademark characteristics will be on display on Saturday when he and del Potro meet in the final of the Kooyong Classic.

Del Potro, who followed Hewitt in becoming a US Open champion, earned the right to play the hometown favourite when he breezed past Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 6-1 on Friday.

''He was my idol,'' del Potro said. ''Him and (Russian) Marat Safin. Lleyton means a lot for me. He's a big champion for Australia, he was number one in the world, with two grand slams.''

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Del Potro has vivid memories of watching Hewitt as a 13-year-old at home in Tandil, Argentina. ''I remember when he beat (Pete) Sampras in the (2001) US Open,'' the world No.7 said. ''He had the long hair, the cap (backwards). I loved his game, he ran a lot, he was so fast then he started to say 'C'mon' every match.''

In contrast to many players, del Potro likes to see a fired-up Hewitt. ''I think it's important for the personality and for the show,'' del Potro said. ''He does that because he's a very good professional,'' he said. ''I love to watch it and the crowd enjoys it a lot.''

Del Potro said he was inspired by Hewitt's hard work and ability to play with pain, something he can identify with after suffering a bad wrist injury in 2010, the year after he won the US Open.

''He's a very good example for work and sacrifices and many other things,'' del Potro said. ''He fights every year with some pain but he is still doing really well. He is very professional - when he comes to play a tournament that means he's ready to win it.''

The Argentinian said Saturday's final would be an ideal trial for him ahead of the Open, where he meets a qualifier in the first round. ''I was better than two days ago but I need to improve a lot more,'' del Potro said. ''It's our first tournament, the season has just started and it's normal to feel strange but with time, tournaments and matches everything is going to be better.''

■ Common sense appears to have won the day over the crackdown on time taken between points.

Leading players including Hewitt, Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych have raised concerns over the past week that the Association of Tennis Professionals' proposal to penalise players if they exceeded 25-seconds between points was too tough.

The issue came to a head last week when Marcos Baghdatis automatically faulted at 2-2 in his third-set tiebeak at the Brisbane International. Baghdatis lost the tiebreak and match to Grigor Dimitrov.

The time limit is actually 20 seconds in grand slams, but Australian Open tournament referee Wayne McEwen said he would speak to chair umpires to remind them to ''keep it fair, keep it consistent''.

''We don't want players out there being penalised after playing a fantastic point, but then again we don't want players deliberately taking too long … We tell them to use good common sense …'' McEwen said.